Maybe a different night
by random-k
Summary: Vincent dies. He dies and wakes up again. And again. And again, until he finds a way to end things that he can live with. Groundhog day time loop.


_"It ain't much of a story, but I don't feel like tellin it at the moment. Maybe a different night under different stars. These ones are too hopeful." _

― _**Alden Bell, Exit Kingdom**_

* * *

_I own nothing but my own ideas_

_I've always liked time travel, but have yet to write, or at least put one up, of my own. Time to change that with a Groundhog day time loop._

_Vincent wakes up after dying. Again. And again. Is there a way to solve this without anyone ending up dead?_

* * *

You wake up, and Leo is across from you, asleep, and you don't know why he wouldn't be, of course not. His anger, your own gun against your head, but you are too slow , too hesitant, bleading, crawling, only to be too late, much too late. But It didn't happen. It was a nightmare. Had to have been, why else are you waking up. Admitibly, a nightmare that could soon become very real, once you land.

You haven't stopped to think it through of course, but that reaction is very impulsive, and admittedly the sort of thing he would try to pull.

Maybe you should plan something with Emily before he wakes up, before you have to land.

The look of anger in his eyes, is familiar from your dream. But this time he goes for Emily, and the gun in her hand.

The car goes off the cliff, and you do not have Emily flying around backing you up. You jump into the water. Leo makes it out of the car. Emily does not. You dive under the water as Leo gets on the boat, hoping you can make it in time.

She is unconscious.

It's hard, swimming up with a person. Your lungs are burning, and you are not moving as fast as you would like. To stop moving is to sink with her. Frantically, you claw upwords, increasingly dizzy. Head spinning, you think you might see the surface.

You wake up breathing heavily, Leo asleep across from you.

* * *

Ok. Ok. That was a bad plan. A fluke.

No. No. It wasn't real.

It was a dream.

A bad what if scenario.

What can you do to prevent it, anyways?

What if he were arrested and restrained before you all landed?

It would be unusual, but nothing you have done on this job has been by the books. Might even save a life.

Now you have to find a working method to restrain him. With time, he could get out of anything you could cobble together from clothes.

You can't think of anything in time. Emily lands the plane, and he is woken up by the landing.

He grabs you, and you apologize, and you try to make him see reason, but his head is too clouded by anger. The car goes underwater again, and you for a moment you freeze. Internally panicking, and trying not to let it hurt your chances. Drowning is still too fresh in your mind.

You make it out, and you join Emily again. This time, you follow her, and you are not surprised when Leo surprises her.

You hold your gun up to him.

"You are under arrest."

He goes to shoot you, and Emily moves, and gets caught in the crossfire.

You were trying to give him a way out!

Fury courses through your veins. This time, you are not hesitant as you shoot at him.

You have your reasons to live.

You have reasons to feel betrayed.

Just as he is.

This time you are faster.

Suddenly, the fury drains from you, and you are cold in the rain, with your friend dying below you. He's dying because you shot him.

You hold his hand, as he slips away.

You can see a future in front of you. One where you go home to your wife, and your daughter, and go over and tell his what happened to him, and stop doing your job. Maybe it's a future you could have learned to live with, once. The thought of it is draining now. Maybe you could have made due with it once.

But… There has to be a better way. Would Leo would really rather die than be arrested?

Or die rather then be captured by his betrayer?

You both, have more than enough bullet wounds that it should make things hard to determine who died first.

If this goes wrong...

You drop the gun, stomach bleeding out.

You are relieved to wake up, with Leo sleeping across from you once again.

It's not just dreams. Can't be.

That was too familiar, too vivid, too detailed, to be just a dream.

You don't know what to make of it.

You are both graceful and terrified.

You crumple on to the floor and begin to cry.

* * *

When you are done crying, you sit up.

Well… look at where your lying has gotten you.

Your brother killed, missing the birth of your child, escaping from prison with a criminal who gives sincere relationship advice, shooting your way into a mansion, where you shot Harvey to death. And in about half an hour, your life will be in danger from someone who trusted you. Someone you used for your own means. Someone you escaped prison with, and jumped into the sky with, and you shot your way to revenge with.

Maybe, to a better cop, it wouldn't mean anything. But it does to you, because you can't live on the run with someone that long, goals that closely entwined, without it meaning something to you.

Maybe you have time, no, chances, to figure out how to say the right thing, for once.

Maybe it's the time for honesty.

* * *

It… it doesn't go well the first time.

It doesn't take Leo long to get his hands on a gun.

The second time, you give them to Emily, before waking him up.

The resulting fistfight, isn't much better, but at least you avoided a crash.

It doesn't stop Emily from using one when Leo gets into the cockpit angrily shouting. Unfortunately, the bullet is in a small enclosed space, and you have the misfortune of getting hit too.

When you wake up this time, you throw the guns out!

The resulting fistfight, and screaming is brutal, but much less likely to end in death this way.

Finally, Leo loses enough steam, and starts to slow down.

"Do you think, I would have confessed here, if I intended to go through with it. " you hiss, low, hoping Emily won't overhear. " I can't do it anymore, not now that I know you. Not when you trusted me with your wife and family, not when we fought and killed together."

"What were you planning to do then?"

"Well… you are the one good at coming up with plans."

* * *

It turns out, that while you have not gotten much experience at flying, you have gotten good enough at crashing and not killing everyone. It helps that there is no fighting to distract you.

Emily is not going to be happy when she wakes up from the blunt force trauma nap.

"I'm still angry."

It's almost conversational how he says it. If you were not expecting the undertone of fury, you might have almost missed it.

"I expected you would be. I didn't expect it to hurt to hurt so much, when we started out. You grew on me."

"Your crazy Vincent."

He's probably right.

"I'm resigning."

"Can't see how they would keep you on after you pulled a stunt like this."

With that Leo runs from the crash site. You fiddle with the signal flare in your hand.

You can't think of a better way to have ended this. Maybe he should be in jail, but hell, after all this, you probably belong right in there with him. Then you might have had to start over and escaped for real.

You pick up Emily and start walking.

You don't know where you are going to go after this, but you get the feeling that the next time you wake up, Leo will not be there.

It's a bit strange, after all this time.

But you don't think you could be as happy with another way.

Either way, you will live with it now.

* * *

_I do regret that Emily was so unlucky in this. Hopefully, her concussion isn't too bad. _


End file.
